Black Desert's Battle Royale Spin-Off "Shadow Arena" Hits Early Access Today

Today, Shadow Arena -- Pearl Abyss' Black Desert Online-themed take on the battle arena genre -- entered early access on Steam. The game pits players against each other in winner-take-all fantasy combat using magic and medieval weaponry. Not only do players fight each other, but in keeping with the BDO theme, they will also find themselves taking down powerful creatures in order to earn loot and boosts that will aid them in defeating their enemies.

During early access, players will be able to choose to play as one of ten different heroes ranging from Jordine Ducas to Badal the Golden. It also features a quest system and six game modes including Solo, Team, Dueling Grounds, Custom, Normal, and AI matches. And, while more will be added later, the game already boasts language support for 14 languages for countries in each of the four available server regions: North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.

Those who download the Early Access will also be able to take part in a Beta Session that tracks ranked matches. Top players will be rewarded with a variety of prizes.